ScottishPower Renewables has selected Siemens as its preferred turbine supplier for the East Anglia ONE offshore windfarm, in the biggest deal ever concluded for a consented project in the UK’s wind energy sector. The turbine agreement, which will be the largest individual contract placed as part of the £2 billion project, will see up to 102 of Siemens’ 7 megawatt (MW) turbines supplied.

East Anglia ONE aims to create around 3,000 jobs in total, with up to half of these jobs supporting the turbine contract. The project is ScottishPower and Iberdrola’s third offshore windfarm and, when completed, will be able to power around 500,000 homes.

More than half of the project components and services will be made and sourced in the UK. As part of the turbine agreement, Siemens will use their new facility in Hull for manufacturing the wind turbine blades for this project.

ScottishPower Renewables will now be able to accelerate discussions with port facilities in the East Anglia region that will be critical to the construction of the project. The company will also work closely with Siemens to maximise the training and employment opportunities across East Anglia to support the turbine contract.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Amber Rudd, said: “This massive financial investment is great news for East Anglia and for Hull, which will now become a real clean energy manufacturing hub.

“In addition to supporting thousands of UK jobs, this project shows we are driving down the costs of offshore wind; another demonstration of how the Government is developing the full potential of the offshore wind sector at the lowest cost to bill payers.”

Keith Anderson, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, said: “East Anglia ONE will be the most cost effective offshore windfarm ever delivered. Selecting the turbine supplier will be the single largest agreement for East Anglia ONE, and the most significant in terms of achieving important cost reduction goals. We are confident that we have selected the most efficient offshore wind turbines in the world, and we look forward to working with Siemens to deliver a successful project.”

Michael Hannibal, CEO Offshore of Siemens Wind Power and Renewables Division, explained: “We are pleased that ScottishPower Renewables has selected Siemens for this project. Our advanced model of our proven Direct Drive wind turbine with an output of 7 MW will leverage the energy output of East Anglia One Offshore Wind Farm and contribute to lowering the cost of electricity. We will manufacture the wind turbine blades for East Anglia One at our new factory in Hull and work with ScottishPower to further promote the growth of the UK offshore industry.”

ScottishPower Renewables is delivering a large cut in the cost of offshore wind power through East Anglia ONE, with a cost of electricity set at £119/MWh after a successful bid in the competitive UK Government auction held earlier this year for a Contract for Difference (CfD). This has been made possible by ScottishPower’s use of advanced technology, such as larger and more efficient turbines, and compares with £140-£150/MWh at other offshore wind projects awarded CfD contracts during 2014.

ScottishPower Renewables and Siemens had a successful relationship working on their first joint offshore project, the 389 MW West of Duddon Sands Offshore Windfarm in the Irish Sea. Construction work on the company’s second offshore windfarm, the Wikinger project in the German Baltic, is due to start this year and will use 5MW Areva turbines.

West of Duddon Sands was supported by bespoke port facilities at Belfast Harbour, where £50m was invested in upgrading port facilities, and utilised two of the world’s largest specially-designed installation vessels. The successful delivery of West of Duddon Sands increased confidence across the industry that major cost reductions were achievable in offshore wind, allowing ScottishPower Renewables to make East Anglia ONE a viable project.

ScottishPower Renewables aims to start construction in 2017, with the first turbines installed by 2019 and the project fully operational during 2020.